Wednesday, July 18, 2012

AvX: Versus #4

Hey now, I’m calling foul! Weren’t we promised real winners and losers in this battle-book? I seem to remember Spidey’s retreat as a victory for Colossus. By those rules, didn’t DD’s retreat from Psylocke count as an X-victory? The dialogue is a bit forced; the two characters seem to match up better visually than anything else. The ninja background is so ridiculous for Psylocke, combined with her non-visual powers, the actual match breaks down a bit once put to paper. Rick Remender is stuck with two characters that don’t actually play that well off each other. The actual fight is gorgeous, though. Brandon Peterson outdoes himself with the gorgeous city-scapes complete with John Woo-style doves. The sound effects are a nice addition; they really popped in this one.

As for the second fight, I’m not sure I care. The Phoenix Five are so boosted beyond their normal abilities, and the power-up is so obviously temporary, that I can’t put much weight behind this result. Thor would normally win this fight, so his loss doesn’t tarnish him at all (that seems to be true of most of the X-wins). One side-effect of the Phoenix force possession seems to be super-arousal. I suppose Emma is just messing with Thor, but based on her behavior in other books, I think she’s just amped up and almost hitting on the big blonde guy. (I loved her mockery of his hair, though!) Kaare Andrews’ art is pretty cartoony, and he clearly loves drawing ladies. I think my favorite panel is the one where Thor shatters Emma’s diamond form, leaving two enormous diamond buttcheeks still standing. Oh my.